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[IcyTea31]

Terrifying. How do you protect children from this new world of online threats? Especially children as young as 8 (or younger)?

Education and communication. Teach children how to be careful on the Internet, and maybe explain to the older ones that taking nude photos of oneself can still count as child pornography. Furthermore, while it would be unfeasible to watch over every single online interaction, have parents occasionally ask their children what they've been up to recently, not only for safety but also for genuine curiosity and closeness.


Here in Finland, mobile phones translate to something like 'palmie', and telephones in general, including mobile ones, translate to something like 'talkie', this being a more formal term. Rarer words and regional variants exist, but those two are probably the most common ones.

[martinuzz]

Terrifying. How do you protect children from this new world of online threats? Especially children as young as 8 (or younger)?

Education and communication. Teach children how to be careful on the Internet, and maybe explain to the older ones that taking nude photos of oneself can still count as child pornography.

That would be really, really hard if not impossible. Children age 7-8 do not posess brains yet that can fully oversee or understand the consequences of actions. Explaining it to older ones is obviously too late, if children are already victimized that young.

Furthermore, while it would be unfeasible to watch over every single online interaction, have parents occasionally ask their children what they've been up to recently, not only for safety but also for genuine curiosity and closeness.

Ofcourse that would help a bit, as long as the children don't lie about it, as children tend to do when they do stuff they know they're not supposed to.

[Lord Shonus]

The answer to that is fairly simple. Avoid giving unsupervised internet access to your kids you wouldn't trust to go to the park alone. Not in the sense of standing over their shoulder the entire time, but in the sense of "don't give your young kid their own smartphone, and whatever they do use has to be done in the main part of the house, not their own room. In the modern era that can't be strictly enforced, but just the building a sense of "my parents are watching this just like everything else" can go a long, long way toward offsetting the hazards.

[Silverthrone]

In Sweden we used the "mobile" part of it as a shorthand.

There is also the phrase 'Teddy' ('Nalle'), which is an endearing term for a mobile phone. It derives from the longer phrase 'Yuppie-teddy', since mobile phones were rather rare in general society but essential part of the Yuppie-kit during their great days, and the two were quite inseparable.

It is largely out of use, unfortunately, since the connection to yuppies and that culture is so antiquated. I continue to use the term, however. I find it rather adorable. Further, there cannot have been an age where the term 'teddy' for their telephone would not be appropriate for more people than now. Leaving the blasted thing alone for a few minutes appears to be a great pain and discomfort that a fellow cannot possibly demand of anyone anymore.

EDIT: I realise now that this might be of no interest at all. Nonetheless, I think that it is rather quaint.

[Helgoland]

I'll be buying a smartphone soon, so maybe I'll try and popularize that term here. Certainly is funny.

[IcyTea31]

That would be really, really hard if not impossible. Children age 7-8 do not posess brains yet that can fully oversee or understand the consequences of actions. Explaining it to older ones is obviously too late, if children are already victimized that young.

Do they need to understand the consequences? The younger ones are likely to do things because "mom/dad told me to", even if they don't see why.

There's also the fact that it's not recommended to have children under 13 use the Internet for communications, as Lord Shonus said. It's not a strict limit, of course, I know some people over 20 who aren't quite ready for the responsibility. Not every child needs to have online access from the moment they learn to read (or even earlier; a little cousin of mine was practically born with a tablet in hand).

Ofcourse that would help a bit, as long as the children don't lie about it, as children tend to do when they do stuff they know they're not supposed to.

If they know they're not supposed to do it, they're a decent way to being safe. But yes, raising a child to trust their parents is tricky, though it certainly is an ideal to aspire to.


This talk reminds me of the old comparison of the Internet to the land of Faerie: be respectful, watch the time, keep your true name safe, be careful what you eat, and don't feed the trolls.

[Yoink]

I seem to remember being (vaguely) informed of the dangers involved in interacting with strangers on the internet as a kid, my past-self basically just going "yeah that's fair enough" and avoiding any really creepy situations of my own accord.
Not like I ever had too much interest in human interaction anyway.

Not sure what age I was when I first experienced the internet, though...  I would have been around seven when my family first got a new, internet-capable computer and dial-up, but I don't think it was 'til I was eight or nine when I developed any real interest in it myself, with the discovery of things such as Neopets and (later, I think) Runescape.

[Hanslanda]

Someone may have reported me for a picture, and I pmed Toady. Both of these things terrify me. O.o I like being the guy that people in charge never notice. I have had plenty of experience being punished, I have learned to be circumspect and behaved.

[Rose]

I doubt anything will come of it.

That said, my heart leaped into my throat once when I got a warning from threetoe.

[smjjames]

Someone may have reported me for a picture, and I pmed Toady. Both of these things terrify me. O.o I like being the guy that people in charge never notice. I have had plenty of experience being punished, I have learned to be circumspect and behaved.

What picture? I know you well enough that you're like most forumers and wouldn't post a pic that would obviously get you banned. Toady One is a pretty understanding guy.

[Hanslanda]

It was me, shirtless, with my newborn son. I am a man, so I didn't think it was a problem.

[scriver]

What even

Edit: I guess they must've thought your were just too damn sexy or whatever

[Loud Whispers]

wat
There was nothing wrong with them pics. Even had cute doggo

[smjjames]

It was me, shirtless, with my newborn son. I am a man, so I didn't think it was a problem.

There's always going to be a minority offended by it in some fashion because internet. I don't see a problem with it either.

[martinuzz]

Someone may have reported me for a picture, and I pmed Toady. Both of these things terrify me. O.o I like being the guy that people in charge never notice. I have had plenty of experience being punished, I have learned to be circumspect and behaved.

It was a harmless family man picture, don't worry.

EDIT: and yes, it was also rather cute